WAIT! Maybe THIS is the FUTURE of CD PLAYERS? (Schiit Urd overview)

[@roll-man]

Audiolab 6000cdt transport. Half the price...sounds great

[@stercaland]

7000 is still like $400 less, and has a chunky tray. I just can’t do the slot loader in the 6000.

[@RobertJessing]

Perfectly sensible with a CD transport and using a better DAC. That said, why do I need to pay 1299 for a data reader?

[@Foxrock321]

Nope buy a good used DVD player have it serviced and your good to go…I have a Yamaha DVD2300 made in Japan it has all the outputs you need to plug into your DAC … The DAC is where I’d put the money

[@diegobalzarini1994]

​@Foxrock321 why a DVD player? Would a cd player with digital output do the same?

[@edwardwood969]

For $1,300 it should make coffee as well. Maybe the kind folks at Ninja will make a 20 in 1 Cd/dac/headphone amp/coffee maker, etc. all for $999. Love your vids and the British Audiophile’s as well.

[@STR82DVD]

It's an absolutely absurd price.

[@iikatinggangsengii2471]

just noticed that my returned dac+amp worth over 10k

[@mrglasses8953]

Looks schiit. Honestly I might just hunt down a second hand Sony QS or ES stable platter mechanism CD player and use the digital outs.

[@alfredallram1815]

Have a look at the new TEAC CD-Transport VRDS-701T, please.

[@currykevuk]

Sorry but I'll stick with my recently purchased used £30 Panasonic dvd player to transport the digital numbers to the excellent dac in my amp.

[@starbase218]

What you're saying about the Fiio dongle DAC compared to the Rotel DAC reminds me of finding out that I couldn't hear the difference between the DAC in my 37 inch Panasonic plasma TV and the upgraded Beresford Caiman+ DAC I spent about 300 euros on. I think that perhaps a DAC, nowadays, is pretty hard to get wrong.

[@AnirudhNatekar]

Very happy with my Audiolab 6000CDT CD transport (half the price of this Schiit) connected to PS Audio Sprout amp.

[@mioszkmieciak1268]

Same here, with Blue Node 2i

[@alwilliams5177]

I bought a Cambridge Audio AXC35 a couple years ago just because I have a lot of CDs. Since then, I buy. CD's all the time. The Sony drawer they use for it seems quite solid to me. Love the Wolfson dac.

[@suzysharpe2141]

The Rotel has a 5 level dimming function, personally i prefer the larger remote too. And the Rotel is a great sounding player, i know, i bought one last week. So schit can keep their schit. I'm staying old school. Sometimes i think progress is just made for the sake of saying look what i can make new, in reality is worse than the old.

[@midmodaudio6576]

I did not get the impression from your presentation that the CD transport you reviewed is an example of the "Future of CD Players"

[@ptg01]

I still do not understand why USB-C inputs / USB-C outputs are such a game changer other than being a 'hub' ? What am I missing ?.

[@Cpt.Zer0]

Still use my Rotel RCD-970BX i bought 25 years ago. Use it as transport, but the old dac do not sound bad. Got a very warm sound for a dac from 1995.

[@DavidHamby-ORF-48]

Jason Stoddard admits that Urd is a niche product. The tray loading drive is one of the few straight-ahead red book transports on the market. Jason/Mike wanted a constant bit rate track following mechanism that was well documented, well behaved, and reliably sourced. A lot of R&B went into the custom USB Audio 2 out stack. And Urd has the longest assembly of any Schiit product.

[@larryeckerdt9750]

I’m unsure why you would take a nice transport with Unison USB hub and plug into a dongle dac, rather than a dac of similar quality? Doesn’t make sense to me 🤔.

[@rosswarren436]

Guess he didn't have one (price commensurate) on hand so made the best of it by using what he did have. He tried the better Lyngdorf and it didn't work. Rats.

[@mrkitewine7700]

One thing I have noticed about my current transport (Audiolab 6000CDT) is that it plays the tricky scratched/pitted discs that my previous players would always struggle with and skip certain tracks. So I guess that is another thing to factor in when buying a cd player/transport - “can it handle the problematic discs?”

[@roberthart9886]

I am quite please with my CDT6000, especially after adding Ali0E Nordost knockoff Odin 2 coax, Odin Gold power cord and very nice iso deices also from Ali E. AND it shuts itself off

[@andrewbrazier9664]

I don't like cd slot loaders. Although audiolab have now brought out a tray version of the 6000cdt 👍

[@bumerangsydney]

1299 and they couldnt put the eject button & you need a DAC 😂😂😂😂

[@alvaskins]

I like this transporter, great idea! Saves having to switch between inputs on my pre amp and gives me back inputs on my DAC for other things.

[@Krell666]

Finally someone gets it!

[@Winterfell1066]

On reason to get an URD is if you have other Schiit components and you want to stack it with them. There is some value in that aesthetic. So Schiit URD on bottom, Loki Max, Freya + Noval for tube rolling. Bifrost 2 on the side. Later an. Yggdrasil + maybe. All developed and made in the USA.

[@metalSpike]

No stacking Loki Max per manual

[@harryburnett7086]

Schitt is usually good at pricing and products but this is pure schitt at that price

[@yanshaoumo6076]

Sorry, I don't get it. What's the difference between this schiit and a PC+CD/DVD/BD drive, even both plug into a same DAC?

[@AT-wl9yq]

Better sound quality.

[@niklasschmidt]

It should be the same.

[@samlsecond8200]

Shouldn't digital transport always transport exactly the same ones and zeros? Like, isn't that the definition of digital? And doesn't transport just mean "read the data, exactly as it is?"

[@JeffMooredotcom]

$20 dvd with digital out would be just as good. But this one is called a "Transport" so it costs more. If ya want a good cd player with an internal DAC you can find some really nice ones on the used market. Just picked up a Sony s9000es for super cheap myself.

[@injurera]

I don't quite get it. The price doesn't make sense. A CD player with no DAC or AMP and just additional USB inputs/outputs. I am reading some of the comments to my reply about high quality transports, and I am getting even more confused. In what sense the transport's quality has a meaning over the sound quality? It's a digital output - it will output exactly the same zeroes and ones as anything else. The "quality" of this thing does nothing.

[@sixergixer]

It's a very high quality CD transport (because no DAC) with a very high precision all-metal tray (no flimsy plastic computer drive here) with a very capable DDC (digital to digital converter). Price makes sense, but I'd rather have the transport by itself without the DDC part for maybe $300 less.

[@jp93309]

Agreed. For that price at least have a kick ass dac as an option and by god a better tray mechanism. As far as usb connections ago, I say less than a year when there will be more offerings for a lot less.

[@Karto86]

​@@sixergixerwhy do you need digital to digital converter? It alters the signal?

[@Joe-yi8xj]

No dac. Until you have a great or even just a decent one like the old CAL transport, you won't understand.

[@Coneman3]

U know nothing. Usually better to have dedicated transport. And don’t say all digital sounds the same 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@John-Edward]

The Transport for the URD is Made in Austria and apparently was the best quality they could get.

[@andrewbrazier9664]

Weren't the early Phillips cd players manufactured in Austria?

[@RoryHennessy]

According to Project audio based in Austria the two original Philips cd engineers have set up in Austria their cd transports are one of the few available. They have cooperated with. Project and other high end manucures. Think URD had a limited budget for their tray.

[@kaischmidt730]

wow. a usb switcher for 1300 dollars. sure shiit.

[@basementchemistry2334]

The future is not $1300 CD transports

[@mancal5829]

That would be a bleak future, wouldn't it?

[@rcobsesssed]

It would be nice if I could find a USB C > B cable THAT WORKS between my Urd and Yggy... this cable problem has been a huge problem which means Schiit should be including one just to get us going. Absolutely ridiculous that I've purchased 4 cables and none work.

[@AG-6969]

I'm a big CD fan, been so since they started making them with concern for quality, those early years were a bit rough but still better than those ticky, poppy, scratchy vinyl things! Love how you point out that streaming services are not the end all to end all. I think, like vinyl, there will be a big resurgence in CDs once the vinyl craze in over. And it will be over. And all my CDs will be worth a fortune, just like my old vinyl was a few years ago when I got rid of it all! Hail CD!!!

[@Diego2thebay]

I just use my Oppo UDP-203 which can also do SACD

[@carlwells9504]

I don’t know- if paying that much for a transport it needs to be utterly built proof to actually transport the CD ( think Teac VDRS10 from back in the day) - and yes that’s old and not a design they could use but how about slot load found in car audio?

[@mcalnd]

I don't think just a CD only transport is the future of CD players. I prefer the sound of the inbuilt DAC of one of my older Marantz 6003 players over putting it out to my Schiit Modi 3

[@MichaelLaing71]

Recently, I got my very old (24 years at least) Toshiba SD-100E DVD player out and have been using that connected to either my Rokson K2 integrated amp or currently my Topping DX3 Pro+ and surprisingly it works really well. I took it apart cleaned the CD tray and motor and it really is as quiet as a normal CD player now. I am sure, I could spend a few hundred or thousand on newer shinier CD transport (maybe my old lugholes aren't up to standard any more) but it is more than acceptable to me. :P

[@pablogp3266]

Hey, John, I love the series of videos you made a while back about the Raspberry Pi and notice you haven't done one in a while. Is it because lack of time or do you think manufacturers have improved their products so much so that the use of a Pi in a Hi-fi system is maybe obsolete (or at least even more niche than before)? Love the channel.

[@TheDealer1228]

He mentioned this briefly in his video with cheapaudioman. Something to the effect of there being more affordable streamers on the market now that they would be more convenient for most people, thus rendering the Pi a niche within a niche.

[@KarlMizak]

Hi John, Love the coverage of the Urd but disagree a bit with the use case. I see this as a product most buyers will use to connect multiple sources (taking advantage of the isolated inputs/providing isolation for multiple source components) with at least a mid tier DAC (Bifrost level and up). Not sure I pay Urd money to isolate multiple components and then run them through a dongle (or your average dongle). Nice that you could do that and then upgrade the DAC down the road,..thus upgrading all the upstream sources.

[@Muckyfellrunner]

Hmmm….. Thanks for this video. I have no CD player on my system as my old one broke, and had been considering either getting another (decent) one or just ripping my collection to audio files. So I had been looking at a separate CD transport and a DAC. Now , after this video my consideration is further confused. Think I need to get a large sheet of paper, re-watch a few of your videos and sketch ideas down. This lark ain’t easy, is it? 🤔😎

[@bpalpha]

Just love your taste in music. You can't combine two of my passions, audio and coffee! I'm actually looking for a "new" second hand CD player. Used market seems to hold more bang for the buck.

[@dobieprime]

sounds like a schiiturd to me....:) John, I love your videos and I love your enthusiasm for new things. I have that some ooh and ahh joy about things also. But, look....this is something to play CDs. As you said, just get the Rotel, or the Cambridge or whatever else. Maybe I am just old fashioned. I just want the best audio I can afford. I don't think everything needs to have the capability to hook up to a computer. But, companies have to make products for EVERY consumer...I get that. Anyway...thank you again!

[@dtracy03ss]

I can use my Node X for a DAC correct?

[@heriacosta5452]

Hey you went back to the coffee machine shots, love your coverage on Hi-Fi!

[@dougcampbell2814]

By the way, much congratulations on reaching 300k subscribers. 300,000! 🙂

[@geofflongford2008]

The T is missing.

[@garganega]

Picked up a factory refurbished Yamaha CD S3000 I am happy with. Most of my stuff is close-out/refurbished.

[@alvarocoutinho3103]

Great player.

[@edwardgonczy3170]

What about the Naim CD Player which has a largely "manual" open/close?

[@johnshore3095]

I have a Naim CD3 modified by Avondale Audio with an external PSU and NOS mod.. pretty good. Has the TDA1541 chip.

[@AT-wl9yq]

No digital out. It can't be used as a transport. Its a good player, but not great. You can find a good used Arcam FMJ series (23, 33, 36, etc...) for less money, and its a much better player.

[@HandyAndyTechTips]

The future of CD players should be something like the Technics SA-C600. It emphasises the spinning disc in an attractive and well-built enclosure, it's integrated with streaming smarts and amplification, and - for what it is - it's very reasonably priced. It would be great if you took a look at it.

[@andrewbrazier9664]

I think it's about 3 times the price of a Rotel A11 tribute in UK so I couldn't justify the price tbh 👍🇬🇧

[@67spankadelik]

My Cary Audio CD player is Irreplaceable. Old school and super reliable and sounds fantastic. Even by todays standards.

[@TheFlyingBarrel]

It supports digital source daisy-chaining, so all of your digital sources can route into a single input into your preamp/receiver. I think it’s pretty clever.

[@jamesdwright]

Hmmm, then they missed a trick by not offering coaxial/toslink inputs in addition to usb.

[@marcelpfeiffer6587]

I keep on going to use my SONY CDP-XA 7 ES for the next 30 years.😂

[@SandsOfArrakis]

I've went all out Cambridge Audio this year. I've bought a CXA81 amp, CXNv2 streamer and a CXC CD transport. The transport is connected straight into the CXA81 through optical. It sounds awesome and it was way cheaper than the Schiit Urd. Normal price is 600 Euro, But I've got it for 480 Euro after a 20% discount from Cambridge. I was using a 15 year old Panasonic BluRay drive to watch both movies and listen to music CD's before this. But the CXA81's DAC sounds a lot better. So I am very happy with the upgrades.

[@mden2490]

I have similar set up, CXC to CXNv2 to Musical Fidelity (M2si) integrated amplifier.

[@tfrench4366]

Did i see that right? 1299.99?

[@thevashfan12392]

Yep, 1300 dollars alone. My last item by schiit is the 20 bit yggdrasil and I'm done. They produce good things but this specific item seems a bit of an audiophile carrot. Like denafrips selling the same equipment at different price tiers.

[@attrktmarketing4582]

I don’t mind the loosey goosey style. I think you still kept things pretty tight and on point. It’s good to add a bit of variety. BTW, the R3 Metas look really nice in white.

[@brianbieniowski2777]

That Pale Saints record changed my life in 1992, absolutely my gateway to 4AD, purely due to catching the "Kinky Love" video on a late night episode of 120 Minutes. SO underrated. I will absolutely be getting that reissue. According to Discogs, I've got over 3400 CDs; I love them. I have an Audiolab 6000CDT and a Schiit Bifrost 2 that sounds as good as my far more expensive Rega Saturn-R. My only complaint re: the Audiolab is the slot drive, which renders my treasured 3" CD collection unplayable. I may well get a 7000CDT one of these days. The Urd is clearly not for me.

[@alvarocoutinho3103]

Darko, thanks a lot for your comments. What about SACD/HD CDs? You don’t care about them, or the DACs will do it and I’m simply too stupid and don’t realize it? Keep up the good work!

[@stephenmiller9791]

I have a Denon DCD 1600 SACD player. If I attempt to play an SACD disc through my Qutest DAC, the sound cuts out. However, my Sony X800 blu ray player plays SACDs through the Qutest coax perfectly. It's a mystery.

[@alvarocoutinho3103]

@@stephenmiller9791 isn’t it? Thank you very much for your comment.

[@Shaken_AND_Stirred]

The Schitt URGE. Where do they come up with these names…….. Does anyone know of a good CD transport with an I2S output? I have a Cambridge CXUHD universal player that is still new in the box, but I don’t really see it as a proper CD player, so I have never used it.

[@dap777754]

PS Audio, but expensive.

[@aceofspades6667]

Imo the special bit about the urd is it’s a DDC combined with a cd transport. So hook in your streamer and pc as a source and play away. A good ddc like singxer su6 or su2 KTE or gustard ax17? Or the matrix xspdif 3 is like 500-600 so you get this all in one functionallity. The failure is it doesn’t have I2S output which for many dacs is far better input than usb or aes (Holo May and spring 3 KTE I’m looking at you).

[@dennismanning6684]

But also, DSD thru i2S = SACD 2ch. No Adobe or DTS decoding needed (sound only BlueRay) Probably have to pay for SACD license though = more $$$s.

[@DaveSHarris]

My problem with these players is the physical size and build quality AND that the laser mechs break and essentially it’s trash. If I could find a decent compact transport then I might invest. Pro ject seem to get the closest.

[@khrispeter85]

So that price for a red book player that wants to be a digital hub…. seems like another product to encourage falling into the components rabbit hole

[@andrewbrazier9664]

I own a Rotel Tribute cd player. Purchased it for my dining room system.I don't own a seperate DAC . Not as solid or quite as good sounding as my decade old Onkyo C7070 mid range cd player but adjusted for inflation less than half the price. 👍 🇬🇧

[@StukaUK]

Does it sound thick and hard, or soft and saucy ?

[@rikardekvall3433]

Nice Schitty😉 review! Cambridge CXC my choice. What happened to the Kallax? De-kallaxed the apartment, for more stylish furnitures?

[@pseunok]

is it only me, or anyone else is intrigued by that aluminium case? I haven't watched Darko's videos for a while now, have he talked about it in another video? (wondering if it can be used for storing audio equipment )

[@andrevanschaik2206]

**FABULOUS** & Thorough VIDEO. Really LIKED you putting a $60 DAC into a $15k system, more commentary on this please. Feel free to have more of these unique pairings in the future. Liked you calling out the feel of the drawer, I too believe look and feel are part of the audiophile experience. Thanks.

[@SaverMtz]

Hey Darko, love your videos and attitude...any suggestions for a CD player with carousel changer? My old Panasonic 5disc player is broken X(

[@mkfmkf55]

As always, the power switch needs to be on the FRONT of the unit, or at least have a power on button on the remote.

[@Shelboooooo]

Agreed.

[@mobill49]

I'm sending mine back under warranty. Too many niggles. I don’t believe enough testing went into the final product. Constant power recycling as it freezes. Drawer won't open and I have never been able to get usb out as advertised.

[@calwest2207]

hello, did schiit resolve the issues with your player or send you a new unit, please let me/us know., thnx.

[@Michael-xz1nk]

John….absolutely gorgeous white Kef R3’s….you did not waste any time. Enjoy!!!

[@mardak2871]

I'm from Canada, 1300 USD plus shipment plus import fees makes this unit totally unattractive. Cambridge Audio Transport CXC V2 cost 849 cad (549 USD I think) before 14% HST (not Cambridge CD player 599 CAD $) make a hell of lot of sense. 1300 USD minus 600 USD makes the "USB Hub" Part Costing 700 Dollar. Maybe my logic is wrong but 700 for USB hub (as good as it might be) is way too much. Also the Shanling CD player that Darko mentioned cost 849 CAD in the shop next to my house. When you look at the specifications: Bluetooth, Dac, USB etc ... I will gat much more for my money. And I still do not "understand" the Unison. Then again I'm just an Amateur.

[@jamesstanley7263]

Slightly embarrassing but… I took a lot of home decor inspiration from this channel as I love the way John integrates his hifi into his living space. So I bought a new tv unit a year ago that I really love, and now John has exactly the same one! Great minds and all that 😂

[@thrashstronaut]

That is some tasty looking Schiit

[@Barry101er]

I love all this future-fi. What an exciting time for audio gear.

[@octothorpe12]

The struggle I had was I wanted a transport that would also do SACD, and do I2S (to keep the DSD integrity), which in 2023 basically narrows my choices to the PSAudio transport.

[@dap777754]

for only $6000+

[@RoryHennessy]

Stunning sound is worth paying for, says someone who bought Project’s transport!

[@JMN_ALC]

Thank you very much for following up with a stand alone review John!

[@motuknight5569]

Audio lab 6000CDT. Great performance for the price!

[@mikecoshan3752]

I’m going audition a Marantz CD 60 at my local hi fi dealer as I have a reasonably large CD collection

[@themastroiannis]

please let us know how it goes. really curious about the Marantz!

[@mikecoshan3752]

@@themastroiannis okay will do

[@ChrisWhittenMusic]

Good to hear the comparison with the Rotel. I have the CD Tribute. Main annoyance is that I can hear the whirring and clicking as it plays the CD.

[@DavidSusiloUnscripted]

You want quiet get a Panasonic UB9000. That what I use now as a CD player in my bedroom.

[@Krell666]

So a fairly expensive CD transport auditioned with cheap DACs, yeah that makes no sense whatsoever. The logical pairing for the URD is Unison USB out to either Yggdrasil or Bifrost. You'd then compare against other price appropriate CD transports *in to the same DAC* such as the Audiolab 9000CDT.

[@RedSinter]

I see your Kef Speaker have arrived...

[@doctorbritain9632]

NAD still have an naffordable CD player as well

[@PeterComber]

60 days ago my old NAD CD Player died. The last few years I was using it with an external dac. I spent 47 euro for a new Panasonic DVD-S700EG-K, and run the coax output into my dac and it sounds good. BTW, judging from your video footage and comments the cd-tray on the Panasonic is possibly superior to the Schiit.

[@EARLandPEARL-c3i]

it works with a schiit modi+

[@stevenwaldstein2249]

Thank you for the video. Two points, 1) I use Room or other UNpN/DLNA end point and first rip all my CDs in to FLAC or ALAC and stream internally to my systems with BluSound Node or WIIM Pro Plus end points. 2) How do you rate the Emotiva ERC-4 as Player/DAC to use with a streamer?

[@pinkypoohable]

The quality and features of that Schiit is a bit limited for its high asking price. My Marantz CD6007 has an AK4490 DAC with matching small signal amp the HDAM-SA2 for less than half the price. Not to mention the CD tray which is more sturdy and robust.

[@rc720s]

Just wondering where do you buy your jackets? They are really nice!

[@samlsecond8200]

Shit Turd. I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. I'm here bc I enjoy watching Johnnie and his toys and his music. Are we music enthusiasts who enjoy gear, or are we gear enthusiasts who enjoy music? This video feels like the former.

[@surf01er66]

Glad I got back into vinyl. I have hundreds of cd's, MoFi, DCC, etc. Sound great in my car !!! Educational vlog, excellent job !!!!!

[@Cornflake81]

I still haven't got my Rotel (probably for Xmas this year) so I was interested in this video .....then you mentioned price and I was like wtf.

[@sixergixer]

John, are you saying the all-metal StreamUnlimited tray in the Urd is the same as the obviously white plastic EVO CD tray in the B-roll shot you showed as you were making that statement? Just curious.

[@Krell666]

Yes they look different in the video, seems like a claim that needs substantiating.

[@DarkoAudio]

Per my video comments, VERY few companies now make CD tray mechanisms. StreamUnlimited's optical mech division (SUOS Hifi) supplied the tray mech in the Urd and the one in the Cambridge. And SUOS only makes one tray-loading model, so it looks like the JPL-2800 could be it. Both the Schiit Urd and Cambridge's EVO have the same steel rods along the sides (which we can see clearly in the video) and the same plastic underside with the same cut-outs (of which the video only shows the Cambridge): www.suos-hifi.com/_files/ugd/a83b4d_f1e63b71ff8a416c94f0f542041d62af.pdf

[@sixergixer]

Thank you for the clarification, John. I didn't realize they were a 2-layer metal-on-plastic construction--definitely threw me off! :) Having read a bit on the development of Urd on Jason Stoddard's 'Schiit Happened' thread on Head-Fi, I knew they took pains to source a high quality drive that wasn't the cheap throwaway multipurpose computer drives one usually sees at this price point and below (almost killed the project) so I cringed a little when I heard it referred to as flimsy.

[@sixergixer]

I wonder why more companies don't do top-loading mechanisms as there seem to be far fewer moving parts?

[@klaverro]

@@DarkoAudio Philips used to make great CD tray mechanisms. Teac with VRDS still does that for Esoteric. But perhaps these mechanisms are becoming too expensive? Hegel's Viking uses a slot-in mechanism. Not my favorite for loading CDs, but perhaps more reliable? Btw, nice video!

[@Phtang-phtang]

Did you know that your first AD break often doesn’t work on your videos :(

[@BigMacIain]

Any reason to not just use the SPDIF output on an old obsolete DVD player?

[@scheibenhonig360]

Had the same thought. Shouldn't the data sent over SPDIF be exactly the same regardless?

[@oneofthesedays1]

been there done that, good transport sounds better than an old dvd player, sadly :(

[@DonStrimbu]

If you want to truly appreciate the achievement that Schiit have accomplished with the Urd, you really need to hook it up USB to a OG A2 Yggdrasil (or a Yggy+). This combo will blow your mind.

[@Kmo76]

Worth mentioning - some of the tracks you've said aren't available on streaming platforms in some of your videos are available on KZbin music (albeit from lowish quality video format at times). Not ideal, not audiophile-friendly, but still available. Those spiritualised singles are all on there, for example. Great video, btw.

[@geofflongford2008]

You cant polish a Urd

[@muddymike10]

Happy to learn that you have reached 300,000 subscribers; congratulations 💪👀. ..

[@jimfarrell4635]

Got to think the Shanling ET3, with its USB and I2S out, good sturdy mechanism, top loading and upsampling/DSD conversion, never mind streaming capabilities, is a much better choice at around 750 bucks-ish.

[@trevekneebone369]

Yeah, I'm considering this for my first CD player in years, for all the same reasons.

[@aarondr0pdead]

But John, without 45 or even 30 second skip protection, how am I going to walk around with this?

[@TheMirolab]

I really like and admire Schiit products, but at my age, 57, cannot get behind the TEENY TINY labels!! I cannot read them, and they are cryptic to boot. Plus I hate cycling through inputs with one button (on their preamps). If a preamp has 4 inputs, gimme 4 buttons please!

[@jaapvander3787]

Philips TAEP200/12 - DVD player for 40 euros plays everything. and is great

[@Ricardo-fs1xe]

Hi John, great video as usual, with great sense of humor. Now, a question: I have the Tambaqui. What would be a good match for it in terms of sacd/cd transport? Have you had a chance to listen to new PSAudio PerfectWave SACD transport? Tks!

[@Gustel]

Congrats on 300000 subscribers!

[@DarkoAudio]

Thank you!

[@Ray-dl5mp]

I want this in some ways because I love the cool factor of the usb and cd ability. But like many, it just seems very overpriced where I think a lot of people would consider this at $699 or $799. Now maybe it has to be this expensive, but it’s a strange product. The new amp coming out called Midgard sounds very interesting and they are selling that for a very reasonable price like most of their products. But then they try to make a lot off of this and the Yggy or so it seems. It’s probably smart that not everything they make is a super good deal compared to competition. But it just feels inconsistent to the end user when so much of what they offer is a great price.

[@markyexley9440]

Not sure I can think of a good high quality USB C cable. As a transport the Audiolab 9000CDT is a stunner with good build quality and costs less.

[@Krell666]

I'd be interested in a 9000CDT vs URD in to a price appropriate DAC (2-3000usd/eur) comparison, the 9000CDT seems like the logical competitor price-wise.